


(and if you'll have me) i would love you everyday until we're old

by writethisway



Category: Agent Carter (TV), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Ace character, Al is a softie, F/M, HIV/AIDS, Period Typical Attitudes, Stonewall Riots, The plot bunny took the reins on this one friends, Trans Female Character, Transphobia, Unbetaed I die like a man, if i fuck up, let me know, no one dies, sex reassignment surgery
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-15
Updated: 2019-12-15
Packaged: 2021-02-26 00:35:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,515
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21802351
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/writethisway/pseuds/writethisway
Summary: "So, you’re…” Al hesitates, not sure how to proceed.“I was born a boy, but I hated being a boy, so I became a girl,” she murmurs quietly. “I understand if you want to stop seeing me,” she sniffles before starting to cry a little.
Relationships: Aloysius Samberly/Original Female Character(s), Peggy Carter/Daniel Sousa
Comments: 2
Kudos: 9





	(and if you'll have me) i would love you everyday until we're old

**Author's Note:**

> Hi.
> 
> I had a headcanon and it spiraled into this. Now you're probably wondering why Samberly, and for this???? And I have no answer to give you other than, I have no idea. I just thought it would be nice for an "annoying" character to get understood and have a love of their own. (This is not my Nanowrimo fic, for those of you wondering. I am working on that, but it's backed up a little :) )
> 
> There is a transphobia warning, but it's all period-typical, and it's only at three major points. ("This time it was different" {this has misgendering in it} to the next line, "It's December 1955," to "Do you want to go home?" and then "They were in New York," to the next line.) There is an AIDS bit, which starts at "It's July 27th, 1981" and goes until "It's May 1st, 2012", but it is all figured out by horizontal lines, so go to the next break. Also mention of sex re-assignment surgery, but it's all sucessful and no one dies. If you have any qualms, my tumblr is musiclmaiden, so direct your questions there. I am Non-binary, but I know that doesn't equal being trans mtf, and I've tried to make this as respectful as possible in regards to everything. 
> 
> The title is from “The perfect home” from The Civility of Albert Cashier 
> 
> Anyways, enough of me Rambling. Enjoy :)

It was April, 1950, when he first met her. He didn’t know that she would be the love of his life, not yet anyways, but life had a weird way of going around things. Didn’t it. 

“So, Co-heads of the science division, you guys are now in charge of the hiring of the people,” Assistant Director Daniel Sousa sets down a stack of files in front of Stark and Jason, Samberly coming in and taking a file.  
  
“These for us?” he says, sitting down and looking through the first one. 

“They passed the first round of SHIELD applicants, we’re dividing them up between the parts now, and this is the Science people.”  
  
They all nod, taking a few folders and looking through them. The applications only had a last name and a serial number, so it made it a bit harder for them to discriminate against guys and gals. He wasn’t expecting many girls though, not in the Science division. 

“Here, what about this applicant, Dr. Hall? Top of their class at UCLA with a doctorate in Chemistry?” Howard looks up. 

“Chemistry? I double-majored in that and mechanical engineering, they could be of use. Say what they did in the war?”  
  
“Uhh,” he flips through the part, and finds it. “Found it, Worked as a WAC in Camp Beale as a chemist.”   
  
Samberly looks up, before looking at him. “Camp Beale? B-e-a-l-e?”  
  
He looks back at the paper and nods. “Yeah, why?”  
  
“I worked there before getting into a secret World War 2 project.”  
  
“Huh, think you might know her?”  
  
He shakes his head. “Dr. Hall? The name doesn’t sound familiar, besides I only worked there for a few months before I got called to work on other war work.”

He nods, “I’ll put her in the pile, she seems swell, and if not, we can at least see if you know her.”  
  
A few weeks later, she comes in, and Samberly’s heart stops. Brown, almost black, hair, about as tall as Howard, and has the prettiest green eyes that he’s ever seen.  
  
She sits down, brushing back her curly hair, pulled up into a half-up, half-down style, folding her hands in her lap. “I’m Doctor Sarah Hall,” she smiles at Howard and Jason, before looking Samberly up and down. “Nice to meet you.” 

The interview goes by quickly, everyone asking her questions relating her service, and her answering in a rich alto, that reminded him of some of the Agents. 

She smiles and looks at him. “Anything you want to ask me Dr. Samberly?”

He realizes he’s staring and looks down. “No, no, you’re all good Dr. Hall.”  
  
She smiles and gets up, pushing in her chair and everyone stands as she leaves. “Thank you,” she says quietly and smiles her pretty smile, before leaving. Howard and Jason chuckle, but who could blame them, not his fault he’s just seen an angel. 

* * *

Two weeks later she appears in the lab as a recruit. As the Lab Supervisor, he’s responsible for training her, and the other two recruits, an Agent Kallen and an Agent Saunders, both good men working on their doctorates. 

Doctor Hall showed up a few minutes late, but he didn’t mind, it was in Arlington and it was hard for him to figure out where the building was the first few times. Jason and Howard had teased him about how soft he was for her once he finished explaining it to her, but he brushed it off. 

After letting them sign their paperwork, admiring her neat handwriting, and getting everything set, he lets them into the lab, before giving them a tour and nodding, handing them off to Howard and Jason for their assignments. Dr. Hall heads towards him and he looks at Jason, who smirks and winks at him. 

“Guess I’m working with you, Doctor,” she says, and Samberly smiles, and she gives him the widest smile she can, and oh man, is he going to have to kill Jason and Howard for this. 

* * *

They accidentally almost blow up the lab two weeks later. It was his fault, he wasn’t paying attention, and accidentally bumped into Sarah, who was carrying a thing of Caesium and accidentally got it into water. 

“Al, get down!” She screams, seeing sparks start. 

His eyes widen and he runs, before getting hit with the explosion, sending him right next to Sarah,who was hiding behind a table, who sat up laughing. He starts chuckling, and he wonders when her laugh became so sweet, and her smile so bright. He helps her up, and starts dusting himself off.  
  
“I’m so sorry, I should have been more careful!”  
  
“It’s fine.” She coughs, and starts dusting herself off. “Note to self, don’t mix Caesium and water or else-”  
  
Two SHIELD agents bust down the door, holding up guns. “Who’s there!”  
  
“Just me and Dr. Hall.” He sighs. “My fault. I bumped into her and she dropped a reactive chemical into water.” 

Daniel and Peggy come in and look at them. “Congrats, you two get to fill out the first accident report,” Sousa sighs, shaking his head at the state of things, and that’s when Samberly realizes how bad it really was. The ceiling was in shambles, and there were tables turned over, some of their equipment on the floor. 

He nods, before taking Sarah’s hand. “We’re coming. You alright?”  
  
“Swell,” Sarah grins and he wonders when he’s become so taken with her. 

* * *

It was a few weeks after when he finally gets his chance to ask her out. After the lab incident, they got a slap on the wrist for being careless, but Stark gets to take the tab for them.  
  
They do have to pay for some of the damage, but that’s fine by them, they made a mistake. Sarah became more careful around dangerous chemicals, and Al made sure to try and not bump into people.  
  
That didn’t help when he asks her out though. He gets dressed in his favorite shirt, does his hair and ties his tie, before grabbing his coat and goes into work.  
  
After a pretty successful work day, he turns to her, runs his hand through his hair and settles himself before nodding and making his way over to her. 

“Hey Sarah?”  
  
“Hmm?”  
  
“Do you want to go get dinner with me after work today?”  
  
She smiles that smile and nods. “I’ll do you one better, dinner and dancing Saturday night?” 

* * *

Needless to say, that was one of the best Saturday nights he had in a long time, and they made plans to go out the next Saturday night, and then the next Saturday night, and a few weeks later, they had a routine where he would pick her up at her house at 6, would go get dinner and then go dancing for hours on end, usually until one of them got tired. Neither of them really drank, they just usually ended up drinking soda, or egg creams. 

This time, it was different. 

They’re standing in line at a dance hall, when one of the cops by the door checks their ids. Samberly shows his, and Sarah was looking for hers.  
  
“Sorry sir, I can’t seem to find it,” she sighs slightly, giving the man soft, almost puppy dog eyes.  
  
“That’s alright, we have a different way,” he grins snakily and goes to grab her ass, and Samberly sticks his arm out to block him. 

“Don’t touch my girl,” Samberly hisses out, still keeping his arm out in front of her.  
  
One of the guys slaps her ass, and that sends Sarah forward tumbling, where one of the other men catches her, and places a hand on her crotch. Her eyes widen and he pushes her away, back into Al’s arms, which wrap protectively around her.  
  
“So, a cross-dresser? That’s what you are huh?”  
  
Al’s eyes widen and he looks at her, but she stays quiet.  
  
“I’ll have to arrest you, let go of him sir.”  
  
“No, this is my gal, Sarah,” he says protectively.  
  
“Let go of him, sir.” He tries to grab his arm and Al tightens his arms around her.  
  
“Make me,” Al says.

* * *

They get arrested that night, her dress ripped to shreds, and his coat being laid over her as some sort of protection. He had a bandage against his head, the effects of being tackled by the police. He did have a few questions to ask her though.  
  
“So, you’re…”  
  
“I was born a boy, but I hated being a boy, so I became a girl,” she murmurs quietly. “I understand if you want to stop seeing me,” she sniffles before starting to cry a little.

He scoots over to her, taking her hand. “I don’t care. Sarah, I love you more than anything.” He says, brushing her matted hair away from her face. 

“Y-you do?” 

He nods, holding her hands. “I understand if you—“ and she flings her arms around him and kisses him hard. 

His hands go to her waist and he’s kissing her, sighing slightly. He pulls away and his eyes flutter a little. “Sarah?” 

“I like-like you too,” she grins and the cell opens. 

“You two are free to go,” the guard says, with Peggy and Daniel standing behind the guards, smirking at each other. 

* * *

The next few weeks, they had to hide it. He was her boss, and it was inappropriate for them to be together. So they hid. Pointed gazes, hands brushing against each other, and a few minutes spent kissing in the filing room were all they had. 

It wasn’t that he was ashamed of her. He couldn’t be more proud of her, it was just that he knew they had to break up if anyone found out about it. It went on for four months, until the holiday party.

It was all Howard’s fault, to be honest. He had mistletoe up in the kitchen, and since him and Sarah had been hanging out in the living room, talking to guests, they retreated to the kitchen and Samberly helped her onto the counter before making them two cups of cocoa and handing one to her, which she drank steadily while they talked and held each other, his hand in hers and her laughing and smiling and sipping hot cocoa. 

They kissed a few times, laughing quietly, letting loose for a few seconds, before hearing a wolf whistle, and the entire group stares at them, before they look up to see,  
  
“Mistletoe,” Al sighs, before Sarah gets off the counter, wrapping her arms around his neck and his hands going automatically around her waist, like he has a hundred times.  
  
“Well, let’s give them a show, right hun?”  
  
“I like your thinking,” He grins and kisses her, without a care in the world. 

* * *

It’s a year after they meet when Samberly decides that he just can’t take it anymore and gets a ring. It’s an older ring, made in 1910, but he doesn’t care. It’s has a silver band with decorative cut-outs, and an oval shaped diamond. They both had talked about marriage, and he knows that he can’t legally be married to her because it still lists male on her birth certificate, but he doesn’t care. 

He wants her to be his wife. 

So one night, when Sarah’s over for dinner, he makes her dinner, all her favorites, chicken with potatoes and vegetables, and lets her play one of her favorite records on his record player. After dinner and a glass of wine, she leads him to the living room, and he hides the ring box under the table so she could find it while she was moving the table, to make room to dance. 

“Al?”  
  
“Hmm?” he looks up, as she picks up the box.  
  
“You dropped something of yours, I think,” she grins, handing it to him.  
  
“It’s not for me.” He says, getting down on one knee and opening it, taking her hand, “Sarah, when we first met that April day, I had fallen in love with you from the beginning. I love you, and if I say anything else, I’ll be crying, so I’ll wrap it up. Sarah Elizabeth Hall, will you marry me?”  
  
“Yes, Al, yes,” She nods, dropping to her knees and kissing him softly, crying as well as “Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered” played on the record. 

* * *

She moves in a few weeks after that. The neighborhood thinks it’s a scandal, but they don’t care. They’re engaged, and they want to live together, so why not?  
  
Peggy and Daniel helps her move in. There was a mission a while back where Samberly ended up saving Jack and Daniel’s lives, and well, it gotten him a bit more respect, and he made two more friends. And when SSR broke down and turned into SHIELD, well, he couldn’t say no to a position there.  
  
They helped them get settled into their new house, just a ten minute drive from SHIELD. Sarah’s quiet the entire time, as a newly pregnant Peggy puts book on a bookshelf. Peggy was only a few months along, but had a bump, which made Sarah quite uncomfortable, but she managed to hide it.  
  
“You alright?” Samberly says quietly, as they’re putting up her books on the bookshelf. 

“Just hard seeing Peggy expecting, and knowing I can’t do that for you,” she murmurs, taking a break and going to the couch.  
  
“It’s alright. I know today has been rough, we’ll finish up the bookshelf and then send them home?”  
  
“Not without coming out…” Sarah says.  
  
“You want to come out?” he says, straightening his back, “Sarah are you sure?”  
  
“Sure as ever, you don’t need to worry. I trust them,” she kisses his cheek, and they stand, and Sarah comes out to Peggy and Daniel, who hug her tight and tell her there’s always a place at SHIELD for her.   
  


* * *

The wedding is held in an integrated hotel, that he’s sure Stark paid for, but he doesn’t say if he does.  
  
Sarah walks down the aisle by herself, and he can’t take it, so he walks down the aisle to meet her halfway, taking her hand. “It’s the both of us, together now,” he smiles, and kisses her hand, before they walk together. 

After Sarah came out as trans to Peggy and Daniel, Daniel almost immediately got officiated, and when they get up to the altar, Daniel’s there, grinning, with Howard slapping Samberly’s back.

“Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today…” Daniel starts, and Samberly was listening, he really was, but he was just out of it, just looking at her and how beautiful she looks. 

He stumbles his way through the vows, only because he was close to crying the entire time, and Sarah looks at him, smiling and kisses his cheek. And when he’s able to put the ring on, he wants to turn back time and do it all over again. Because he may be dreaming, and this shouldn’t be his life, with Sarah standing in front of him. 

Daniel says, “You may kiss the bride,” and he grins at her before having his hands wrap around her waist automatically, and kissing her softly. They pull back after a few seconds and he smiles, grinning at his wife. His wife. Sarah Elizabeth Samberly.  
  
“Hello wife,” he grins.  
  
“Hello my husband,” she grins and kisses him again, before they walk down the aisle, hand in hand. 

* * *

It’s a few weeks later when he finally discovers who he is. Or has a name for it that is. 

They’re at home, sitting on their bed and cuddling, her head on his chest and his arm wrapped around her waist. She sighs slightly before piping up, saying, “Hey, I need to talk to you for a second, mind lifting your arm?”  
  
He nods, lifting his arm off of her, and she sits up, grabbing his hand and playing with his wedding ring.  
  
“So I was talking to my group, and they asked how the honeymoon went, and I said it was good but we didn’t consummate the marriage because of well, us. And one of the girls there brought up a point. You said you didn’t really care for sex that night, and she brought up the Kinsey scale, and well, one of the things is an X, which is no sexual contact, and I was wondering if that might be you? They called it asexual, where you don’t feel sexual attraction.”

They tried having sex on their wedding night, but it didn’t work out. She doesn’t like anyone touching down there, and he’s never been one for sex, always found it kinda weird and gross. So that’s what was wrong with him. But all he could manage was an “Oh. Ohhh. Yeah, I think that’s me. You don’t mind though, right?”  
  
“Of course not,” she smiles and kisses his head, letting him breathe a little easier. 

* * *

It’s December 1955, when she gets outed to SHIELD. 

It’s not her fault. One of the lab techs was careless, she tripped and ripped her dress on the table ledge, someone saw her bulge, and well, that was that. 

He found her in the women’s room an hour later, once he got notice of what happened. 

“Sarah?” he knocks, “It’s just me, will you let me in?” he asks quietly, and the door opens to show Rose.  
  
“Hey Rose, is Sarah in here?” he sighs out. 

Rose nods, opening the door a little for Samberly. “I’ll scurry people away.”  
  
He nods, going in to see Sarah and Peggy. “Sarah, honey, can you stand for me?” he says, helping her up.  
  
She just barely makes it up, still crying and hugs him close to her, letting herself go. He mouths a “Thank you” to Peggy, who nods.  
  
“Do you want to go home?” he says softly.  
  
She nods, not letting go of him.  
  
“Director?”  
  
“More than fine, I’ll let the lab techs and Daniel and Jack know.” 

He nods, holding Sarah close and walking out with her. Once they got home, she basically runs into the bathroom and starts sobbing, with Samberly coming in behind her. “Sarah?”

“Leave me alone!” she screams, and well, he’s always been good at that, so he does. 

She stays there for a while, and only comes out when he bribes her with food. 

After dinner, he goes, “Hey, do you want me to draw you a bath?”  
  
And she screams at him, and it feels like he got stabbed in the back a little. His heart aches for her, because she’s spitting out words he never should hear her say about herself, and what can you do when the woman you love is hating on herself. She stops after a bit, and he takes her hands, gingerly touching them. “Can you tell me what’s wrong?” he says softly, with all the love in the world.  
  
She nods and sighs out slightly. “I just haven’t felt like a girl at all this week, and then with this…” 

He nods, rubbing her hands. “I know you don’t want to take a bath, but would it be okay if I washed you? I would do it with a washcloth, not with my hands, you can get into a swimsuit so that I don’t have to see you.”  
  
She nods, getting into a swimsuit while he drew a bath, and started washing her once she got in. 

This became a tradition between the two of them, him washing her, and her getting dressed in pajamas and setting her hair. She would then go to him, where he would paint her fingernails, and put lotion on her face, letting her breathe easy for a few hours. 

* * *

They rescue their first dog a few weeks after. They find one in an alley by SHIELD. A German Shepard, scared and alone. Samberly takes him into SHIELD, letting him into the lab and gives him a place to stay, and the dog stays there and sleeps, eating, and nuzzling Samberly and getting petted by Samberly and the other lab techs. 

Sarah comes in and smiles. “Who’s dog is it?”  
  
“I don’t know. Found him outside SHIELD,” he shrugs, petting him. 

She nods, petting the dog. “You’re such a good dog.”  
  
He smiles and Sarah smiles, and they have a dog now.  
  
They get the dog to a vet, who says that it’s a healthy baby boy, and if they want to name him, they can.  
  
He nods and turns to Sarah. “What do you want to name him?”  
  
“Hmm, what about Alex?”  
  
“Alex Samberly? Sounds good to me,” he smiles. 

This would not be the last dog they rescued. 

* * *

It’s April of 1966 when she decides to get surgery. 

They have been talking about it for a long time. Really since Alex entered their lives, but that doesn’t matter the day she walks into the house, with their dogs, Jack, Rose, Violet and Ana going to Sarah with kisses and demanding to be petted. 

She sits down on the couch, exhausted from today. Colonel Phillips and a few other people had visited SHIELD to take a tour, and well, someone made a comment about her maybe not being a girl, and Samberly almost fought him until Colonel Phillips shut him and the commenter down. She’s been on edge ever since and it took her a bit to calm down. 

She reads her book as he cooks dinner, the only time she tried to cook dinner ended in disaster with the house almost burning down. It’s when he starts plating food when she speaks up.   
  
“You know, Harry Benjamin has an article out about surgery for Trans people.”  
  
“Oh?” He looks at her, “Do you want to try it?”  
  
She nods, sighing softly. “I can’t take it anymore. I thought I would be able to just be on hormone injections, but I can’t deal with it any longer!”  
  
She starts crying, and Aloysius stops plating the food and holds her close, letting her cry into him, sniffling a little himself. He never wants her to feel this way, ever. And if surgery were able to fix what she thinks is broken? Then he’ll do it. 

He nods, letting her cry, with all the dogs getting worried and whining at them for pets. He scratches Rose, an Irish Setter with fur almost as red as the actual Rose’s hair, then Violet, a blonde mutt of some type, hops up onto the couch and goes to Sarah, who starts petting her, while Jack, a Golden Labrador bumps into Rose, gets up onto the couch and curling by Sarah’s feet and Ana, a Bernese Mountain Dog, lays down in front of the couch. 

Two months later, she has facial surgery, and then a year after that, she has breast augmentation, and well, a year after that, she has bottom surgery. They both cry after every successful surgery, and she smiles that gorgeous smile at him, and he can’t help but smile back at her and kiss her. 

* * *

They’re in New York in late June of 1969. They took the weekend off to go to New York City to hang out and celebrate her being done with all her surgeries. 

They end up going to the Stonewall Inn, and end up staying there for a while. With them not being as young as they once were, they end up just sitting at the bar and making small talk to whomever comes by and wants to talk to them. Sarah tells stories about Arizona, where she grew up, and Al tells them about how he met her at their job in the government, and winks at Sarah, who giggles and kisses his cheek. 

It’s around midnight when a bottle breaks and the “Copper’s are here,” Al says, getting up. “Sarah, go, Run!” 

“Not without you!” she yells, before kissing him and moving towards the door as Al goes to break up the fight, holding back the copper and throwing him to the side, before running to find Sarah, grabbing her hand. “Ready love?”  
  
She nods, and they run out into the street as police rush in, and they run back to their hotel, out of breath. Sarah huffs out, “All those people, shouldn’t we do something for them?”  
  
He nods slowly, “You want to go back.”  
  
“I have to go back. Surgery or not, those are my people in there, I can’t run like a coward when my people are getting hurt or worse.”  
  
He nods, takes her hand, squeezes it, and smiles. “Then back we’ll go.” 

They get arrested, and then released, but Sarah always keeps a little bit of Stonewall with her in the form of a piece of glass in a necklace. 

* * *

It’s July 27th, 1981. They’re older now. He’s going on 70, and she’s going on 67, when AIDS breaks out. 

She drops the paper on his desk at work, and he looks at it, before looking at her. “You want to help…”  
  
“We have to help,” she nods, “Even if it takes us out as well.”  
  
He nods, kisses her hand, and she kisses his head, and they retire and move to New York a month later. They help anyway they can really, from holding people’s hand, to making dinner, to sitting down and talking to them. 

No matter how much they know them, if one of them dies, they’ll cry, Samberly will say a little prayer, and they’ll make their little headstone and put it up on the shelter wall.  
  
When the AIDS Quilt comes out, Sarah spends her days making Quilt squares. Having the gravestones out help, but to be honest, she could do it without them, because even without the gravestones, she remembers every little detail of them, and she knows Al does too. 

* * *

It’s May 1st, 2012 when he meets the Captain. Steve lets one of the nurses pushes his wheelchair to a table in the sitting room of the nursing home they’re in.  
  
Sarah’s dozing in their room, and even now, she’s just as beautiful as he met her. 

“So, you know Peggy?”  
  
“Carter-Sousa? Worked with her for decades, the stories I could tell you Captain…” he chuckles. “She once punched a lab tech for getting smart with my wife Sarah when I was sick.”

“Carter-Sousa?” he raised his eyes and Al sighs holding his head in his hands.  
  
“Carter-Sousa, was it on the file you got?” 

“It was, I just forgot about it, I guess,” he sighs out. 

He nods, taking a sip of coffee, “Don’t tell Sarah, but this coffee is better than anything than Sarah can make.” 

“That your wife?”  
  
“The most beautiful gal I’ve ever seen,” he grins.  
  
He chuckles, softly, “So, you worked State-side in the war?”  
  
“Chemical Warfare teacher. Moved to work on the Manhattan project.”  
  
“That where you met Sarah?”  
  
“Oh lord, where do I begin?” Al chuckles, a little bit of a boyish smile coming back, and it’s like he’s back in 1950, looking at the girl with the black hair and that sweet, sweet, smile. 


End file.
